How to Save Electric This Christmas

The festive season is just around the corner and no doubt you’ll be spending longer hours in your home and in front of the television. With those extra days off work and the kids off from school and college, how can you save money this Christmas?

What Will You Be Using Your Electric On?

The dark nights are getting earlier which can only mean one thing – the kids are staying in rather than going out in the dark and cold. Keeping them entertained can prove difficult, leading to longer hours spent on games consoles and computers. What child wouldn’t want to spend time chatting to their friends or competing on the latest game? And that’s not forgetting the younger ones sat in front of the TV watching Mr Tumble. On top of the extra usage on entertainment you’ll also probably have your Christmas decorations plugged in and your Christmas tree lights on, in an attempt to make your home the most festive on the street! Click! Your electricity runs out. Off go the lights, the TV, the computer, the kids’ games consoles, the boiler and not forgetting your fridge and freezer. Have you over-done the electricity and not put enough on your meter?

Saving Those Extra Pennies

Leaving TVs, games consoles and computers on standby while asleep or out can double your energy bill. In fact 75% of us waste energy while using standby without even realising it. 8% of our electricity bills are due to devices left on standby with some households using more! So think about that smart new Xbox you just bought your son for Christmas. If it’s left on standby you could be matching its purchase price with your electricity bill within a few short months!
What about those fancy lights, lighting up your Christmas tree? Well let’s say to save yourself a bit of money you have reused your lights from a couple of years ago. Each bulb is 5 watts each and you have 100 bulbs around your tree. That means that there is 500 watts on your tree which is 0.5KW. If you have your lights on for 14 hours a day, that’s 14 x 0.5kw, which equals 7KWh. If you are charged at 12p per hour (standard charge varies) that is 7 x 12 which is 84p. That might not sound a lot but that’s just per day. Different lights use a different wattage so it could be costly. Switching lights off when not in the house or in bed not only saves money but will also cut the fire hazard down too. Another idea would be to buy LED lights as these use less wattage, saving on the electricity.

It’s All About The Lights

It’s not just leaving Christmas lights on this coming December that could cost you in energy. Let’s not forget about leaving household lights on when leaving a room or overnight. Lighting makes up around 15% of your electric bill. This also goes down to which bulbs you use. Energy saving bulbs have been proven to lower the cost of your bill. However, having energy saving light bulbs does not mean that you can still leave the lights on constantly. Light bulbs will also last longer if not used as often so save the bulb, save the bills!

After taking the above tips into account, do you still feel like you’re paying too much for your bills? It might be time to consider economy 7. Visit uSwitch.com for more information.

Rizwan Ahmad

About the Author:
This article is contributed by uSwitch and posted by Rizwan Ahmad Author and founder of myfoodforu blog He is a blogger from India and he loves to share his thoughts by writing articles on the different topics related to humanity,